William e



(No Model.)

W: R. PATTERSON. TELEPHONE OABLE TERMINAL.

Patented Feb. 5, 1884.

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N. PETERS. Fhnloiikhugmphcr, Washington. DYC.

IVILLIAM It. PATTERSON, OF CHICAGO, ILLIXOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE \VEST- ERN ELECTRIC COMPAXY, OF SAME PLACE.

TELEPi-lfli E-CABLE. TER?-1HNAL.

'EPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 292,849, dated February 5, 1884.

(No model.)

I' l 1 (Ii/J unto/'11, Uta/1 1 00700072 1 Be it known that I, WILLIAM R. PATTER- sox, a citizen of the United States, residing at 5 Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Telephone-Cable Terminals, of whichthe following is a full, clear, concise, and exact description, reference being nad to the accompanying drawings, forming a to part of this specification.

My invention relates to the means for dis tributing the conductors of electric cables. The cable which I make consists of insulated copper wires inclosed within alead pipe. The

I 5 fibrous covering of the wires is saturated with mrai'tine-wax, and the interstices between the strands of the core and the space between the core and the pipe should be filled with paraffine charged with gas, as shown in my Patent No. 28i,226, dated September i, 1883. As cotton covered with paraffine is more or less hygroscopic, moisture is liable to penetrate the fibrous covering of the wires, especially at the end .of the lead pipe, where the conductors are close together, the capillary attraction being greatest where the conductors are near each other. In order that moisture may be kept away from the conductors at the end of the pipe, I provide a stuffingbox about the 30 end of the pipe, which is preferably placed 3 in vertical position, and above this stufiingbox I place one or more perforated strips, and I draw each conductor through its own perforation or hole in a strip. The strips are 3 5 preferably made of hard rubber, and two in number. For a fift -wire telephone-cable the strips may be made, say, ten inches long, an inch wide, and three-eighths of an inch thick, and perforated each with two rows of holes. 0 The two strips may be placed, say, an inch and a quarter apart parallel. The two strips so placed form two opposite sides of a box,

the front side or cover being removable, so that the inside of the box may be accessible. I place a cap, preferably of hard rubber, above the strips. The end of the cable being placed at the lower part of the box, the different c011- ductors may be threaded through the holes of the strips on either side, and pass out through said holes to their binding-posts, which are conveniently arranged upon parallel strips of l the perforated strips.

cable are thus taken out of the pipe and made Chica o in the county of Cook and State of insulating material placed on either side of The conductors of the easy of access. In order to protect the cable from lightning, I provide a second bindingpost strip on the outside of each of the two binding-post strips before mentioned. These outside strips I will call the line binding-post strips. The inner strips,which carry the binding-posts to which the cable-conductorsare at tached, I call the cable bi nding-post strips." I thus provide two strips for binding-posts on each side the box. Between each of these two pairs of strips I place a rod, which serves as a ground-connection for lightning-arrester pnrposes. Corresponding binding-posts of each pair are connected by line insulated wire, the connecting-wires being wound once or twice around the intervening rod. I protect the whole by shallow box provided with doors in front, which may be opened when desired, so as to expose the binding-posts and all other parts of the terminal to full view. The wires may be carried out of this exterior boxthrough holes provided in the bottom thereof, prefer ably near the corners. The binding post strips are longer than the perforated strips of the inner box, and the wires of the cable are thus caused to radiate from the perforations to the binding-posts.

I have illustrated my invention in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l is a front elevation of my device, the doors of the exterior box being open, and the front side of the interior box being removed. Fig. 2 is a horizontal sectional view thereof, showing two conductors passing from the cable, one on either side, in detail. Fig. 3 is a detailed view of the stuffing-box. vation view of the upper part of the right side of the outer box closed.

Like parts are indicated by similar letters of reference in the different views.

The cable aextends upward into the box a. 9

Fig. 1' is a small ele- 9 The cable binding-posts cl are 9 cement box a. The line binding-posts c c are like wise placed upon parallel strips inside the box. The lightning-arrester rods ff are placed between the binding-post strips on either side, as shown. The small box with perforated sides protects the wires near the end of the cable from the injurious effects of moisture, since the wires are carried out singly. A drop of water falling on a single wire must evaporate before it could spread to a point where it would come in contact with other wires. The stuffing-box prevents moisture from reaching the wires from below, where they are near together at the end of the pipe, and also serves to hold the pipe firmly in position.

By using different-sized washers I am enabled to adapt the same stuffing-box to cables varying in size. The front side of the small box at the end of the cable is replaced after the wires have been drawn through the perforations and connected to their appropriate binding-posts. The wires therefore at the end of the pipe are protected by this small box, and since the wires are carried out singly moisture cannot be carried by capillary attraction, so as to impair the insulation of the wires at the end of the pipe.

I clain1 1. The combination, with an electric cable, 0 of a stuffing-box placed about the end of the pipe, a box provided with perforations for the different wires, and binding-posts exterior to the perforated box, whereby the wires of the cable may be carried out singly, and moisture 5 prevented from penetrating the fibrous covering between the wires at the end of the pipe, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

2. The box provided with perforated sides of non-conducting material, placed at the end of a telegraph-cable, in combination with the conductors of said cable drawn through said perforated sides, whereby said conductors are carried out singly toward the binding-posts, while moisture is prevented from being drawn by capillary attraction to the contiguous conductors at the end of the cable, substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In witness whereof I hereunto subscribe my name this 8th day of September, A. D. 1883. 50

\VILLIAM R. PATTERSON.

lVitncsses: Gnonc-n I. BARTON, MILLARD R. Pownns. 

